...Does Poverty Lead to Engaging in Criminal Activity? Within the African community of the Kipsigis, in the South Rift valley Province of Kenya, there is a common saying which is used to insult someone who is lazy and is bound to die poor. The saying goes “May thieves never visit you.” The assumption in the saying is that thieves will only visit the one who has something to be stolen. Hence, the saying expresses a sarcastic wish on the lazy one that ‘may you be so poor that even thieves cannot think of visiting you because you have nothing valuable in your house.’ Inherent within the saying is also the assumption that ‘thieves’ steal because they need something they do not have, i.e. they are poor. It is commonly assumed that there is a direct causal link between poverty and crime. Hardly does a day pass before the highlights in, say, a newspaper, radio or TV, report of crime associated with the poorest areas of any subject society. We are more easily appalled to hear of a burglary in those places where the rich and the well-off live than in the slums, for example. But, is it always true that poverty is an impetus to crime? This paper challenges this assumption by showing how an unclear definition of what we mean by ‘poverty’ and ‘crime’ or ‘criminal activities’ makes it difficult not only to identify crime or a criminal activity but also to prevent it. What, then, can be conceived as a more elaborate definition of poverty? According to the Scottish Poverty Information Unit (as...
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...Review October 20, 2014 “Poverty refers to a situation which the basic resources to maintain an average standard of living within a specific geographic region are lacking.” (Bartol & Bartol, 2014, p. 31) It is known that there is a definite connection between poverty and criminal activity. The connection leaves little doubt that poverty is a legitimate risk factor and those who are forced to survive in impoverished conditions are more likely to engage in criminal activity. “There is little doubt that poverty has a strong connection to persistent, violent offending, as measured by official, victimization and self-report data on both adult and juvenile offenders.” (Bartol & Bartol, 2014, p. 32) Treatment of those who reside in impoverished areas by law enforcement is much different than individuals who reside in more affluent neighborhoods. “In many communities, children from the lower socioeconomic class are targeted by law enforcement practices more than are children of the middle and upper classes” (Bartol & Bartol, 2014, p. 33) Impoverished environments also connect the individuals who reside in them to other issues which make the risk factor of poverty even more complex. According to the text (Bartol & Bartol, 2014) attending inadequate schools, not completing school, being unemployed, carrying a firearm, being victimized, along with being a witness to violent crimes are more likely to occur when an individual lives in poverty. The articles “Public housing...
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...Crime and poverty have been problems and subjects of social discussion for as long as civilization has been in existence. Even today, society still struggles with the question of how to fix and reduce both of these problems. As the decades go by and more and more statistics are collected, we can see a pattern of poverty and crime rates. What many hope to see in these graphs and statistics is a reduction of both poverty and crime. Every year billions of dollars are spent on fighting crime and helping those who find their selves struggling through poverty. Will the effort spent on reducing crime through better security make the impact on criminal activity we hope it does, or should we work on bringing those who commit crimes to a higher standard of living? Many would argue that the two are linked together and that poverty is the number one promoter and cause of criminal activity, and that adults and children who grow up living in poverty are more likely to be apart of this criminal activity. Should the government spent more money on fighting crime, or more on those who live in poverty and that are more likely to commit the crimes? The answer to that is simple; we should spend more on bringing those in poverty, out of it. Facts have shown that adults and children who live and are raised in poverty stricken areas are more likely to commit crime. As poverty levels fluctuate throughout history, so do crime levels. There are many aspects that come into play for those living...
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...2013 Hassan Nadeem FAST-NU Increase In Teenage Crimes Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Teenage Crimes 4 In Pakistan 4 Background 5 Peer Pressure: 5 Poverty: 5 Poor Parenting Skills 5 Findings 6 Survey 6 Interview 6 Small Scale Implementations 7 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 Charts……………………………………………………………………………………………………10 Appendix 11 Executive Summary Teenage crimes as we all know are those crimes which are performed by people aging between 13-19 years old. These crimes are performed all over the world but unfortunately these crimes have been on the rise in Pakistan for the last 5 years. My objective was to find out who are responsible for the increase in teenage crimes. For this purpose I Conducted a survey from our fellow students and also interviewed a Deputy Supretendant of Police to get his views about this particular issue. The results we found showed that teenage crimes are a reason behind many problems of our country and steps should be taken to reduce this as soon as possible otherwise condition of our country will become much worse because a country cannot develop without its youth. “The Youth of today are the future of tomorrow and a country cannot prosper and develop without the contribution of its youth”:- (Bill Gates) Introduction ...
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...Social Disorganization Summary CJA/384 Criminal Organizations In some instances, individuals can become a product of his or her environment. Low income and poverty stricken communities tend to lack adequate education, health care, and community programs, thus creating social disorganization. This paper will define social disorganization, identify and discuss two theories in association with social disorganization, and expound on how social disorganization relate to organized crime and its proliferation. Social Disorganization “[S]ocial disorganization theories suggest that a breakdown in social norms and opportunities has occurred and that the resulting frustration causes people to choose criminality as their only source of success” (Lyman & Potter, 2007, p. 81). Typically, delinquency or criminal behavior is approved because of a subculture within disadvantage communities. One of the core principles relating to the social disorganization theory is an individual’s environment is a factor when influencing an individual’s involvement in criminal activities. “[A]reas characterized by economic deprivation had high rates of population turnover, since these were undesirable residential communities, which people left once it became feasible for them to do so. Socio-economically deprived areas also tended to be settled by newly arrived immigrants, which resulted in the ethnic and racial heterogeneity of these areas” ("Review Of The Roots Of Youth Violence: Literature...
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...IMPACT OF POVERTY ON DRUG AND CRIME Asfandyar Humayun Zephyr STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: The problem under discussion is the impact of poverty leading to crime and drugs. This essentially means how under privileged people or worse go towards the dark side of life that is crime and drugs. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The reason why this topic is being highlighted is because the crime rate in teenagers is on the rise, these teenagers rather than going to school, playing cricket, having a chilled latte etc are getting involved in target killing, street mugging, doing very hard drugs and are ruining their lives. They should be contributing positively to the society as the youth are the future of the society rather than ruining our social order. Crime has severe backlashes and one them is on economy a key factor here to note is that economy is the backbone of the country. OBJECTIVES: The basic aim of the research is to establish a relationship between poverty and crime and drugs. Here poverty covers slums people deprived of basic needs the primary focus is on teenagers and this research will highlight how poverty single handedly ruins lives of so many people directly and...
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...Environment Relationships There are a few aspects that make up the environment that in return correlates human behavior. These aspects are environmental cues, territory, landscape, and visual bubbles. By compiling an analysis of these different relations, criminal justice professionals are able to better solve and reduce crime in different areas. For example, here in Columbia, South Carolina some neighborhoods and school districts have more patrolling on highways and neighborhoods than others. This is due to the analysis of crime that has occurred in those areas more frequently than others. Some neighborhoods have more opportunities for criminals to conduct crime than others. These opportunities are also referred to as environmental cues. Several things can reflect the level of opportunity in areas such as poverty, age groups, race, and the ratio of law enforcement to population. In these areas humans are easily influenced to commit crime due to these environmental cues surrounding them. This behavior becomes a cycle within these communities and becomes easier for law enforcement officers to predict criminal activity and solve crimes. Conclusion The environment has a major influence on the level of criminal activity. There are many things to take into account for the effects on...
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...Social Problems Associated with Street Gangs Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging. A street gang can be defined as “an organized social system that is both quasi-private (not fully open to the public) and quasi-secretive (much of the information concerning its business remains confined with the group) and one whose size and goals have necessitated that social interaction be governed by a leadership structure that has defined roles; where the authority associated with these roles has been legitimized to the extent that social codes are operational to regulate the behavior of both the leadership and the rank and file; that plans and provides not only for the social and economic services of its members, but also for its own maintenance as an organization; that pursues such goals irrespective of whether the action is legal or not; and that lacks a bureaucracy (i.e., an administrative staff that is hierarchically...
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...not what drives a juvenile to becoming a lifelong criminal and deviant, but instead, the “fate” that’s is tagged on by society and enforced by the conscience. According to a study performed in Malcolm Gladwell’s psychology book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, a person’s “self-identity” in college is just as important as the student’s actual intelligence. Gladwell begins to explain that if you are in a class where you feel smart (or have a positive self-identity); you will perform extraordinarily better on examinations. On the contrary, even though one is highly intelligent, if they are in a class containing students who are smarter than they are, then they will feel less smart and perform worse on examinations. If we compare college students to juvenile’s delinquency, we can get a better idea on how the self-fulfilling prophecy operates. If a society treats someone like a criminal, regardless of the offender’s...
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...Children living in poverty have lower education attainment, increased school dropout, lowered IQs, increased behavior problems, and increased psychiatric disorders (Household Poverty And Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008–2012). Instead of punishing the poor, the United States government should try to provide better opportunities for these children because right now they are failing them. It is unethical to provide wealthier people with better schools and jobs. It leaves the impoverished to feel like poverty is all they will ever know. People living in poverty have double the rate of committing crimes than those who live in high income areas (Household Poverty And Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008–2012). This is not because they are terrible people destined to become criminals. It is because they grow up in a world the wealthy cannot imagine. It is so easy for someone who has never experienced poverty to say, “You make your own decisions,” because they fail to realize the impoverished do not have the same decisions as the wealthy. Their decisions are, “If you don’t steal the food, your children will starve.” They don’t have money to save. They live paycheck to paycheck. In a study, children who moved...
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...worldwide and is categorized in either organized or cooperate operation. Criminology generally revolves around justice, police officers and the law offenders. However, the subject is not limited to the three blocks rather it goes beyond, deep into psychological influence. Crime or criminal activities are actions that compromise the ultimate well being of the society in the light of harmonious co-existence. Every society therefore has the ideal code of conduct that they consider the standard form of interaction among themselves. These codes and set guidelines when compromised and ignored then such an action can be considered to have upset the mutual societal agreement hence a crime. This research will set to compare and contrast the two forms of crime namely the organized and the corporate crime Definition Crime whether organized or not is in all dimensions an illegal activity aimed at gaining and securing wealth and power and to some extreme instances political influence. Organized crime being an illegal affair involves the coming together of individuals who interact closely with warm social ties. They form a group like an enterprise and they always move together to commit their criminal activities. These groups are organized and have levels of leadership and procedures for a possible promotion for an excellent member. Positions are normally offered in respect to friendship or skill and rules are strict with repercussions such as death if not followed. Corporate crime on...
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...Immediate and long-term consequences of poverty on children The Immediate and long-term consequences that poverty has on a child are: Developmental difficulties that include cognitive delays, physical health problems, and lack of social skills; having high-risk behavior such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse and involvement in criminal activities; and problems associated with studying that include unwillingness to attend school, repetition of class/grade and poor academic achievement. These consequences have a direct impact on how a child will turn-out in future as an adult. How might consequence of poverty affect a child’s future functioning as an adult 1) Developmental problems- Parent who lives in poverty have difficulty in providing good...
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...Checklist for Cause and Effect Essay 1. Have I identified the cause or effect I am analyzing in my thesis? Yes I have by describing what the causes are for poverty and the great effects this has. 2. Have I explained the cause-and-effect relationship convincingly? Yes I have by citing examples. 3. Have I organized my causes and/or effects logically? Yes I have by using transtions. 4. Have I used sound logic? Yes I did. 5. Have I concluded my essay effectively? Yes I did 6. Have I proofread thoroughly? Yes I did. Sharon K. Santayana Professor Ashley Trunko English 101 25 June 2014 The Poor Get Poorer “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” a famous tourism campaign for this island of 7,107. The Philippines is one of the major countries frequently visited by tourists every year. From its booming nightlife to its immaculate white sand beaches, one would think that this country has it all. Think again. Poverty is a big problem in the country. With its lack of education, health care, food, shelter, and jobs, to add the high crime rate, this country is far from where someone would imagine living in. “Poverty is often identified as a situational condition contributing to the possibility of negative outcome for at-risk populations” (Tuason 40). What causes poverty? Who are affected? Poverty stems from the lack of resources for an over populated geographic location. In 2014, the Philippines was projected to have had 100,617,630 people making the country...
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...relate to crime. Describe the common models for society to determine which acts are considered criminal. Explain how choice theories of crime affect society. Post your response as an attachment. CheckPoint Criminal Acts and Choice Theories Two theories of many that cause crime are choice theories and trait theories. In comparing the two I find those choice theories refers to the decision making when the individual is thinking about committing the crime. For instance, the choice theories states that a person commits a crime voluntarily or rational and evaluates what he or she is attaining and if it is worth the risk. As opposed to trait theories, which refers to the personality of an individual? Trait theory focuses mainly on measuring and identifying the characteristics of each unique individual. When contrasting both theories, is that in choice theories the individual commits the crime by choice and trait theories is driven by biochemical conditions. It is also believed that choice theories that disciplining is the most successful way to decrease crime. However, trait theories believe treatment for such criminal behaviors is the most effective way in reducing crime. The relationship between trait theories and drugs, alcohol and crime is that the consumption of these substances can alter the biochemical system on a person in which can and will influence criminal behavior. For instance, the use of steroids can increase the testosterone levels on a male, which...
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...Social Disorganization CJA/384 May 2, 2013 Social Disorganization The study of the causes of criminal behavior and delinquency has been around for many years. Many of the theories revolve around that many criminals are a product of their environment. The social disorganization theory is not much different than those theories in that aspect. Social disorganization can be described as the inability of a group of people living amongst each other who cannot or will not get along mainly because of their cultural differences. These cultural differences mainly occur in the poverty-stricken areas, where criminal behavior has even more room to thrive. Relation to Organized Crime Social disorganization and organized crime can be linked in many ways depending on the theory being used. With social disorganizations theory that criminal behavior starts in the community and a reflection of the people’s surroundings, areas with large cultural differences and poverty are perfect breeding grounds for organized crime. Areas that have a population of mostly poor residents are more likely to have criminal activity such as drugs, theft, and gangs. With crimes starting and spreading in these areas they turn into a way of life for the people living in them. With so many cultures living in such small areas the fight to stay alive becomes a violent multicultural one. Gangs and drugs are one of the oldest versions of organized crime that is still alive today and is directly reflected by...
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